


Catacombs

by MaurLin



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:34:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24212194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaurLin/pseuds/MaurLin
Summary: Under Paris, a fight can turn in a moment.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Kudos: 37





	Catacombs

**Author's Note:**

> Characters belong to ZAG and Thomas Astruc.

_ This is dangerous, _ thought Ladybug.  _ We have to end this soon! _

She and Cat Noir had followed this akuma deep into the catacombs running under Paris. Which made sense, as he looked like a living skeleton, and he called himself Skullz. Here, he could hide amid the thousands of skulls and bones lining the walls, and attack out of nowhere.

But this was a part of the catacombs that had been blocked off, with signs reading “DANGER! NE PAS ENTRER!” There were reinforcing struts all over the place, and some of the groans from the supports made Ladybug think that this was NOT the place she wanted to be.

She and Cat Noir were back to back in an open area, but there were five entrances to the space, and no way to tell what direction Skullz would come from. Ladybug listened as hard as she could in the dimly lit area, trying to sense where the akuma was.

“Ladybug, look out!” Cat Noir gave her a shove as a mountain of skulls and rebar came crashing down from the side. She tumbled away as the dim light burst and faded, leaving the space in darkness.

The dust made Ladybug cough. “Cat Noir? You okay?”

Cat Noir didn’t respond; Ladybug’s heart dropped. She crawled back to where he had been, feeling her way across the floor. “Cat? Answer me, please!”

He still didn’t answer. Ladybug pushed past the bones and dirt she felt, until she finally felt a clawed hand. She grabbed the wrist, checking for a pulse. It was there, but it was slow and weak. She worked her way up the arm, letting her fingers tell her what had happened.

Cat Noir was face up, half buried in dirt and bones. He wasn’t moving; as Ladybug ran her fingers across his face, she could barely feel his breath on her fingertips. There was a sticky patch on the side of his head. “Cat Noir?”

She brushed the hair out of his eyes, and began to dig him out by touch. Now that she knew where he was, she made sure to pitch the large pieces of bone and metal away from him.

As she dug out his left arm, she found his staff. A touch of the cat-paw button activated the computer screen; its dim glow made Ladybug feel better in the dark. She stuck the staff in a pile of dirt to free her hands, and continued digging.

As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, her heart clenched. Cat Noir looked bad; the glow from the staff made his skin a zombie-green. Her eyes began to tear up as she worked to get him free. “Don’t worry, kitty; I’ll get you out.” She was proud that her voice only shook slightly.

A hand on her arm startled her. Cat Noir’s eyes were open a crack and focused on her. “Milady…don’t…” His voice was a thread of pain, almost inaudible. “It’s no good…” He coughed, and the spasm shook him. “I can’t…” He lost his breath, and his eyes closed again.

“Cat Noir?” Ladybug cupped his cheek in her hand, trying to get a response. “Come on, kitty, stay with me. I’ll have you out soon.”

His eyes opened slightly again, bare slits of green in the black of his mask. “No,” he breathed. “I’m hurt…too much…” He coughed again, and a faint line of something dark stained his lips. “Just...stop him…you don’t…need me…” Cat Noir’s eyes drifted shut, and his head lolled to one side.

“Cat! Wake up!” Ladybug’s heart thudded in her chest; she shook her head to clear her eyes of the tears. She stroked his cheek with her thumb, then lifted his head off the ground. “Please! I can’t…I do need you!” The tears spilled, dropping onto his mask. “Please…” she begged.

Finally, his eyes cracked a little. His breathing was becoming more labored, and his eyes weren’t focused on her; he was looking over her shoulder. His breath caught, and his eyes widened slightly; that was all the warning Ladybug had.

She ducked as Skullz swung a piece of rebar at her head; she threw herself to the side and out of the way of a reverse swing. The living skeleton stepped into the place she’d vacated by Cat Noir’s side; he looked like he had passed out again.

Ladybug spun her yoyo upward. “Lucky Charm!” A flashlight dropped into her hand.

She couldn’t hold still long enough to figure out what it was for; Skullz was coming after her with wild swings. She ducked and dodged all around the collapsed wall, trying to avoid Cat Noir.  _ Where is the akuma?! _ she thought frantically; she couldn’t see anything on the rack of bones where the butterfly could hide.

But even injured, it appeared Cat Noir could. She could see his right hand glowing and moving slightly towards Skullz’ foot. Now she understood the purpose of the flashlight- she turned it on and directed the beam squarely into the eye sockets.

The akuma shrieked and threw up an arm to protect its vision- just as Cat Noir’s hand landed on a silver ring around the big toe of Skullz’ left foot. The ring crumbled, and a black butterfly appeared.

Ladybug purified the butterfly as fast as she could; she couldn’t see Cat moving or breathing. The akumatized skeleton detransformed into a young man dressed entirely in black. He began babbling to her; she listened with one ear while hustling him to the exit.

“You’ve got to get out of here; it’s not safe. Run up this corridor until you pass the signs and find one of the tour groups; we’ll be right behind you.” With a final push, she saw him run down the hall toward the light.

Ladybug leaped to Cat’s side and flung the flashlight upward. “Miraculous Ladybug!” The magic energy swirled, but she didn’t wait for it; falling to her knees, she gathered up Cat Noir into her chest. Burying her face in the hair between his cat-ears, she sobbed, letting all of her fear and grief out. She was vaguely aware of the catacomb bones and rebar restoring themselves, and the dim light returning.

“Milady?” came a muffled voice under her chin. “I can’t breathe…”

She gasped, and pushed him away a little, then seized him in a hug. “Y-You idiot…” she sobbed in his ear. “You royal  _ idiot _ …” She drew in a long, shuddering breath. “Why would you think I don’t need you?”

“Uhh…because you don’t.” The confusion in his voice sounded completely genuine. “You’re the one who solves the Lucky Charm, and purifies the akuma. All I do is protect you and destroy things- not exactly necessary to battling akumas.”

“Is that what you think?” Ladybug’s tears were coming as much from anger now as reaction to what almost happened. “You’re my partner, Cat! You help me in every fight; most of the time I need you to make the charm work. And you always make me feel better, when I’m losing hope. I couldn’t be Ladybug without you!”

She pushed away from him and began to stumble down the hall toward the exit. A hand on her shoulder helped steady her feet, so she didn’t crash into the wall of bones. “I’m sorry, Milady. I just thought- maybe you’d prefer someone you loved to be your partner.”

She stopped dead in the hallway. “You’re still an idiot! Just because I’m not  _ in love _ with you doesn’t mean that I don’t love you!”

The confusion- and a little anger- on Cat Noir’s face were easier to see now that they were closer to the light. But he was trying to keep his tone light and conciliatory. “Ladybug- I admit I don’t understand. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Ladybug’s anger ran out, leaving behind only the fear. “I know- it’s just-“ She hugged her stomach. “You’re my  _ partner. _ ” Tears fell, and she scrubbed them away with the back of her hand. “I- I’ve almost lost you- so many times- Timebreaker, and the freezer, and Miraculer- and so many other times-“ She lunged at him, and gave him a rib-cracking hug as she cried into his chest.

“Don’t  _ ever _ leave. Don’t  _ ever _ think I don’t need you. And don’t  _ ever, EVER _ think I don’t love you, even if it’s not the way you want.” She nearly whispered her final plea. “Please, please- don’t scare me like that again…”

She could feel him returning the hug, and his purr faintly vibrating his chest under her cheek. “I’ll do everything I can, Ladybug. But what we do is dangerous- and I do have to protect you. I couldn’t live with myself if I let you get hurt and Hawkmoth won because of it.”

Her earrings beeped, and a few seconds later, so did his ring. “You’ve only got a couple minutes left, milady.” Cat Noir pushed her away, a bit reluctantly, and smiled. “See you next time?” He held up a fist.

Smiling through the last of her tears, Ladybug bumped his fist with her own. “Every time, kitty.” She turned and ran down the hall, hoping to detransform in private and leave quietly.

She made it out through the visitor’s center entrance, and hid in the restroom as her earrings beeped a final time and she shifted back to her everyday self. After giving Tikki a cookie and hiding her in her purse, Marinette left the center and headed for home.

“Hey Marinette!” She looked around for the person calling her.

“Adrien?”  _ What is he doing here?  _ she thought. But it was too late to pretend she hadn’t heard. She waved at him and walked over. “What brings you here?”

“Oh, location scouting for a horror- themed photo shoot. You?”

“Research for a paper. Got to keep my grades up…” Marinette smiled- probably too widely, but Adrien didn’t seem to notice- not that, and not her blotchy cheeks.

“I bet it’ll be the best one in the class. Need a lift home?” he waved to the silver car that was pulling up.

“Oh, I- uh,” she cast around for a good excuse, “I have to stop on the way home to run some errands. But thanks! Maybe another time?”

“Sure, anytime.” Marinette watched him get in and ride off; she sighed. After today’s akuma, she just wanted some time alone to sort through her feelings about what had happened. But it made her feel a little sad that she had an opportunity to be with Adrien and couldn’t take it for fear of spoiling it with her unsettled feelings. She didn’t want him to think that she didn’t want to be around him.

She began to walk home, promising herself that she would get him some treats from the bakery tomorrow. Maybe some for Cat Noir too, since he’d had such a bad day today. Marinette took a deep breath, more grateful than ever that her partner was okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a long time ago; I'm not sure I'm happy with it, but it's not really a happy piece. So I guess I'll live with it as is. Let me know if you like/ hate/ are confused by it.


End file.
